


Signs

by LizzzBeth



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Aliens, Allura is only in flashbacks, Angst, Coran is a funny sheriff and I love him sm, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Horror, Hunk comes into the fic later, Hurt/Comfort, I love this movie and this show okay? this fic was only a matter of time, Katie and Matt are 5 and 10 years old respectively, Keith and Shiro are Siblings, M/M, Religious Conflict, Religious Imagery & Symbolism, Signs (2002) AU, Voltron au, crop circles, i don't think i'll make this fic too scary but it will include certain elements from the movie, it won't get preachy i swear because i hate when religious stuff gets preachy, it's also a major part of the film so it's going in there too, keith and lance are dating, klance, my dudes i don't think y'all understand how excited i am for this fic, shallura - Freeform, take a wild guess between which characters, there's a lil bit in there, this is going to be as in-character as possible!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-04
Updated: 2018-04-06
Packaged: 2019-04-18 13:32:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14214213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LizzzBeth/pseuds/LizzzBeth
Summary: After an accident that has taken his wife, his arm and his faith in most good things, Shiro is trying to get on with life one day at a time. On his farm where he lives with his adopted children, Katie and Matt, his brother, Keith, and his brother's boyfriend, Lance, he discovers an intricate series of circles and lines etched into his cornfield. Keith swears up and down that it's aliens, Matt thinks it's a miracle from God, and Shiro- well he knows it's money gone down the drain for that year's harvest. However, when things start to get more and more complicated and the actual mystery of the situation unfolds, what Shiro and his family finds will forever change their already broken world.





	1. The Crops

**Author's Note:**

> My dudessssss! Y'all I'm so hyped for this fic. Like I said in the tags, I LOVE this movie and Voltron is my current obsession so I felt it was time to fuse them together. Okay so this won't be too scary or too violent but some certain scenes are going to include some violence. Klance is a thing in here because, come on, it's me we're talking about. Anything I make will most-likely have those two together. Also, while everyone in the fic is a main character, Shiro is the main-main character. This fic mainly circles around him though I will go into other characters as well. Anywho, I feel like I'm rambling at this point so I'll let y'all get along with the story. I hope y'all love this as much as I do!

The morning air was chilled as Shiro jolted awake and sat up straight from a nightmare he couldn’t remember.

Soft blue morning light streamed in from the windows of the master bedroom and bird song lilted in through the early morning hours. The house was quiet save for the hum-click of the ceiling fan.

Shiro rubbed his face with his left hand and groaned, wanting to go back to sleep but still too wired from the residual panic of his nightmare. You would think that being 31 years old would make dealing with nightmares easier and, in Shiro’s opinion, you would be wrong. His nightmares had become quite commonplace but no matter how many he had, they never got easier.

Downstairs, the refrigerator kicked to life, switching something inside Shiro that spurred him to his feet and made him get dressed for the day.

He made his way to the hall bathroom, stopping to pick up a few socks and a shirt in the hallway and throwing them in the hamper once he got to the bathroom. 

Shiro stared at his reflection for a moment, like he’d done every morning in the past year. His front tuft of hair had turned gray over the past year. A sign of stress, or so his doctor told him. The scar across his nose had healed and he’d come to accept the fact that it won’t ever fully fade. Lance said it gives him ‘character’. Keith said he snores because of his deviated septum. Shiro said it made himself seem too serious and grumpy. Everyone would say, if asked, that it wasn’t just the scar that made him seem that way.

He turned away from his reflection and held up his right arm. Or, at least, what used to be his right arm. All that was left was a nub that ended right after his elbow. He was grateful for that because at least he could bend his prosthetic when he put it on. 

It was when he was brushing his teeth that he heard a faint scream from outside. Shiro peeked out from the bathroom doorway, toothbrush hanging from his mouth, looking towards Matt and Katie’s room. He spat in the sink and rushed to the door before flinging it open. The empty room was a mess, Matt’s books strewn everywhere mixed with Katie’s drawings and toys. He made a mental note to tell them to clean up before he threw on some boots and rushed downstairs.

~~~~~

Keith and Lance were sound asleep in the apartment above the garage, limbs tangled together and the blankets half hanging off the bed. Lance had tried to make the place as home-y as he could when they moved in with Keith’s brother one year prior, putting up posters and curtains and covering the bed in handmade blankets and quilts. But even after all of that, if someone were to walk in, they could tell that the small room wasn’t the most comfortable of living spaces. Good thing they only really slept in there, spending the rest of their time in the house with Shiro and the kids.

A child’s scream pierced through the quiet of the morning, shushing the birds outside, and startling Keith and Lance as they fumbled awake. Lance fell out of the bed with an ‘oof!’ while Keith bolted straight up, eyes wide and alert. They looked at each other for a second before rushing to get some clothes on and darting out the door without a minute to spare.

Rushing down the steps wrapping around the side of the garage, they heard the smack of the screen door at the back of the house and looked up to see Shiro rushing outside. He must’ve heard the scream too. He didn’t even bother putting his prosthetic on.

They ran up to him and Keith hurriedly asked, “Where are they?” To which Shiro shook his head as if to say 'I have no idea'. 

Lance’s eyes darted around the large yard for any sign of the kids, about to call for them, but then another yell broke the silence, “Daaaad! Uncle Keith, Uncle Lance!” coming from the cornfield that bordered the backyard.

They all ran through the corn stalks, the plants smacking them in the face, until they came to an irrigation pathway and saw 5 year old Katie standing a little ways down the path, still in her nightgown. She was quiet as Shiro ran up and kneeled in front of her, Keith and Lance coming up behind him.

“Katie, where’s Matt?” Shiro asked softly. 

She stayed silent. 

“Katie?” Shiro tried again. 

Lance then knelt down beside Shiro, “Katie, where’s Matt?”

Katie turned to Lance, “Are you in my dream too?” She asked softly. 

“Dad!” They all looked up at the call that was only a little way off and Keith quickly scooped Katie up as they ran off towards the sound.

They came up on another break in the corn but this time, it was unexpected. It wasn’t where an irrigation path should have been and it wasn’t harvest time yet so there was no reason that this part of the corn should be clear. The dogs, Red and Blue, were barking their heads off in front of them, running around in circles. At the edge of the clearing was Matt, 10 years old but tall for his age, still in his pjs. 

Keith and Lance seemed frozen in shock as they realized what they were seeing. Shiro ignored what was in front of him as he walked up behind Matt, putting his hand on his shoulder and kneeling down again, “Matt, what’s going on?” Shiro asked, looking at his crops in front of him.

Matt looked deep in thought, glasses slightly askew as he looked around the field one, two, three times.

Shiro took Matt’s chin so that he would look at him, “Are you okay?”

Matt’s eyes finally lit up as they usually did when he came to an answer he had been searching for. The reason why he had so many books in his room stamped as ‘Property of Arus County Library’ piled up in his room. The reason why he carried the A+ Honor Roll at his elementary school despite the teasing that came with it. He never liked to go without an answer. And it seemed as if he had found one that explained this incident.

“I think God did it,” Matt stated. Shiro made another mental note to himself to stop teaching his kids to be so blunt.

Matt repeated his father’s action and took Shiro’s chin, pointing his face back towards the clearing.

Shiro blanched and stood up, walking over a few stalks of corn before he came to stand in the clearing. His feet crunched as he walked over the fallen corn, all laid down sideways, spiraling into a perfect circle at least 100 feet wide. Red and Blue were running around the circle, barking and barking, like they would when a stranger knocked on the front door. Shiro couldn’t help but stare at the ground in front of him, Matt’s voice echoing in his head, _I think God did it._

~~~~~

Keith and Lance brought the kids into the house while Shiro stayed out and checked the rest of the field, calling the police station to report it. 

He found other patches just like the one the kids found, some connected to the others by more intricate designs laid down in the crop. His phone rang after about 30 minutes and Keith told him that he had climbed on the roof of the garage to take a look at the field and that, in his opinion, it looked to be crop circle designs. Shiro had to suppress a groan. Of course his brother, the family conspiracy theorist who swore up and down he saw Mothman back in 5th grade, would come to that conclusion. Shiro just saw the holes in his crop as loss of income when the harvest would finally come in, and he was ticked off. 

Shiro had just made it back in through the back screen door when a thought stuck him. Rolo and Nyma. Those two were always pulling stuff around town. Who else would spend the entire night orchestrating such an elaborate prank? Well, he would have to do something about that.

The smell of dish soap hit him as he stepped through the kitchen, Lance at the sink washing the dishes. 

“Where’s Keith?” Shiro asked as he made his way to the landline.

Lance looked up from the dishes, “I think he said he was working on his bike out in the garage. Why? Do you need me to get him?”

Shiro took the home phone off of its holder next to the fridge, “Nah…” He paused for a moment, “Do you remember Rolo and Nyma?”

Lance perked up, drying his hands and crossing the kitchen, “Ah, Nyma,” he sighed, “The stars just weren’t in line for us to-“

“Dude, didn’t she steal your car and leave you in the dust, on your butt, tied to a lamppost back in town?” Shiro interrupted.

Lance’s smile fell, “Maybe…” He grumbled, “But hey! At least I got Keith to get it back for me and look where we are now! All lovey-dovey and stuff.”

“Mhmm. If by ‘lovey-dovey’ you mean ‘painfully in love’ then sure,” Shiro smiled.

“It’s not painful,” Lance said, confused.

“For you,” Shiro laughed, teasing. Lance was almost like another brother to him and he was beyond happy Keith found someone like Lance to pull him out of the rough spot his was in. They had been together for about three years now. Lance and Keith were already planning on moving in together at the two year mark so when Keith came to live with Shiro a year ago, Lance was more than welcome to come as well. 

Speaking of Keith, “Do you think Keith would have Rolo’s mom’s number? Or do you remember it?” Shiro asked Lance.

“Ryner?”

Shiro nodded.

“I mean it’s been since high school…” Lance stopped to think, “try 555-0728 and if that doesn’t work try 555-0724.”

The second number ended up working just as Matt came downstairs with Blue.

Shiro stepped out on the back porch as he started talking, “Hello Ryner!..... Yes it has been a while…..”

~~~~~

Keith was in the garage, oiling up the chain on the motorcycle he had saved from the junkyard. He had been working on tightening the chain for the past 15 minutes, trying to take his mind off of the crops. He knew full and well that if he got too involved, he would spend the rest of the day on YouTube looking up crop circle and gray alien videos. 

Today was also a Saturday, so Keith was off work from the gas station. It wasn’t the best job in the world but at least it brought in some income for him and Lance to save up and to help Shiro where he needed them. Lance also had a job in town at the library but he only worked Monday’s, Wednesday’s and Friday’s so he could help out with the kids as much as possible. Without work, however, there wasn’t much to do around the farmhouse outside of planting or harvest season.

So Keith resorted to working on the bike. It was a piece of junk when he first got it, he would admit that much, but building it up to the almost pristine condition it was in right now acted as a sort of hobby during the past year. He didn’t think he would ever ride it, though. No, he didn’t need the nagging from Lance or his brother.

He reached for a water bottle that wasn’t there and decided to just leave the bike for another time. He wiped his hands off on his jeans (no doubt earning a scold from Lance later) and headed out the side door of the garage. 

Shiro was out on the back porch, talking on the phone with someone. He didn’t seem to notice Keith walking up so Keith decided to do a little eavesdropping as he got to the edge of the porch.

“Ryner, I’m actually calling about Rolo…”

Keith was confused. Why was Shiro talking to his ex-friend’s mom?

“Was he out with Nyma last night? Or was he at home with you?”

There was a short pause as Ryner talked.

“Well something happened to our crops overnight and-“

Another pause.

“Yes, yes. He’s a fine boy-“ Keith could pick out the hidden sarcasm in Shiro’s voice not only from the tone but from the fact that the statement was false in every way imaginable.

Shiro went to sit down on the steps of the porch, phone pressed to his ear by his shoulder, left hand running over his face.

“Look, if it was him, then I don’t mind. I can let this pass. Maybe if you talked to him?...” Shiro trailed off before speaking again, a little more serious and reserved, “Y’know, seeing the corn like that was kind of strange. The kids were… confused by it. But maybe if we knew that it was just Rolo and Nyma messing around, it would take the edge off-“

He was cut off by Ryner.

“The movies? You sure?” Shiro asked. After another moment’s pause he sighed and lifted his head up, seeing Keith standing to the side and making eye contact with him. Keith used to find his brother’s attention comforting.

“Alright then, thank you Ryner,” Shiro hung up, clearly frustrated.

“What was that about?” Keith asked, walking up to Shiro and helping him to his feet.

“Just wondering if your and Lance’s old high school pals had anything to do with the crops.”

Keith chuckled. Obviously Shiro would check out part of their old group; they had gotten into so much trouble with them before college- before the other two started acting like jerks.

“So no luck?”

Shiro shook his head, “I got Ryner mad at me, but other than that, no,” He joked with Keith, bumping their shoulders together as they made their way back inside the house. They stopped at the sight of Blue laying down in the kitchen in a puddle of yellow and Matt kneeling down next to her.

“Blue peed. I think she’s sick,” Matt stated. Keith looked at the German Shepherd who was shaking, eyes blown wide like she expected to be struck at any moment.

Shiro only nodded, “I’ll call Dr. Iverson after lunch.”

“Dr. Iverson? But he’s my doctor, he doesn’t treat animals.”

“He’ll know what to do, anyhow. Just take Blue outside for now,” Shiro crossed the kitchen to hang up the phone and to grab a handful of paper towels.

Matt tugged on Blue’s collar and left out the back door, calling to the living room, “Hey Katie, wanna go play on the swing set?”

“Heck yes!” Katie called, the patter of her feet sounding before she skidded into the kitchen.

“Language!” Shiro scolded. The kids just laughed and went outside, the screen door slamming as they left.

“I’m gonna go find Lance and see if he wants to paint the room today,” Keith said as Shiro wiped up the floor. Ever since it had become clear that Lance and Keith would be staying for an extended period of time, they had been wanting to spruce up their little garage apartment. 

Shiro just nodded, then heard as Keith walked away and up the stairs.

He threw the dirty paper towels away and was going to go out back to see what the kids would want for lunch when he heard the front screen door open. No one should’ve been at the front door so, confused, he went to see if it had blown open.

As he walked to the entryway, he nearly jumped out of his skin. Standing in the doorway was Coran, the sheriff in town. He twirled his mustache and raised his eyebrows at Shiro’s reaction.

Shiro tried to play it off, “Wow, Coran, that was fast. I only called you guys… what? Two hours ago?” he said sarcastically.

“Well, it’s not my fault!” Coran, ever the eccentric, was always one to be loud, “Haggar twisted her ankle the other night, as she put it, ‘diving for her life’ when a few kids- er, I’m sorry ‘HOOLIGANS’- sped past her on skateboards,” Coran acted out his story with wide gestures and an even wider voice, using the entryway as his stage, “Fast forward to this morning when she went down to Thace’s store and started spitting on the new skateboards. Spitting!” he paused for effect, and Shiro was glad he didn’t act out the spitting, “By the time I sped down there, she had sprayed the whole quiznaking place!” Shiro laughed at the horrified expression that fell over Coran’s face, “She must have had a case of the slipperies or something, I tell you I won’t be hungry for a week…” Coran shuddered.

“I have to admit, you look a little green,” Shiro chuckled.

Coran gave him an indignant frown before straightening up and asking, “So what exactly happened to your crops?”

“IT’S ALIENS!” The yell was muffled as Keith called from somewhere upstairs.

“Oh hush up!” Was Lance’s similarly muffled reply. A scuffle and laughing sounded not a second later and Shiro knew the two had started to wrestle around.

He was getting too old for this.


	2. The Dog

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, here's chapter 2! The next chapter will also be posted soon- I got a bit more carried away with this fic than I thought I was going to!! I hope y'all enjoy this chapter. Let me know what y'all think, my dudes, gals and non-binary pals!

Shiro was getting more and more upset the more he looked at his poor corn crop. It wasn’t ripe yet so he couldn’t even harvest the downed stalks. He ripped an ear off a plant as he crouched down in the middle of the circle. 

The sounds of the kids playing on their swing set put him at ease a bit but also worried him. He needed the money from his crop for them. He didn’t really have to worry about Keith and Lance since they both had jobs but he would be a horrible brother and a horrible friend if he couldn’t offer help when they were moved in with him. If the premature gray hair on his head was any indicator, he really didn’t need the extra stress that these crop circles offered him.

Coran was somewhere off to his side, inspecting the ground for any hints or clues that may have been dropped by the ones who did this. Keith swore up and down that they wouldn’t find anything because aliens used ships to make crop circles, but Shiro herded Coran out the back door towards the corn field before Keith could go off on another one of his tirades.

It’s not like Shiro was a closed-minded man. It’s just that he thought aliens were somewhat of a stretch. And the suggestion that, even if there were aliens, that they would come and vandalize his farm field out of all the other places in the universe was a bit absurd.

~~~~~

Lance poked at the chicken cooking on the grill, half-dancing half-singing to music on his phone speaker while also keeping an eye on the kids. Katie was on the swing set while Matt was tending to Blue, who was acting stranger than usual. Blue was always an odd dog- very mellow for a German Shepherd- but Lance noticed her retreating back into herself the past couple of days. Maybe she really was getting sick like Matt suggested.

The screen door slapped as Keith walked out of the kitchen, headed towards the garage apartment.

“Hey babe, whatcha doin?” Lance singsonged to Keith.

Keith kept walking but turned towards Lance so that he was walking backwards. He held up a few large brushes, “I found these in the basement. I had to dig around for them but, tonight is Paint-Night!!” He shouted triumphantly, before turning back towards the garage.

Lance watched him walk up the side stairs and blew a kiss to him as Keith opened the door to their room. Keith just rolled his eyes and caught the kiss in his fist, bringing it to his own lips before disappearing inside. 

The Cuban boy laughed as he closed the lid to the grill to let the chicken smoke a bit more, and turned to the kids. 

Katie had joined Matt with Blue, who was laying down now. Lance grabbed Katie’s cup off the patio table before joining them, holding the sharp two-pronged grill fork in his hand. The side of the grill was too messy to set it down on. 

He handed the cup to Katie before leaning on the side of the swing set. It was hard to keep the 5 year old hydrated because- as illustrated by the way she currently gagged on the tap water- she hated drinking water. Really, she hated drinking anything. But water was the worst for her. After she took one or two sips, she wouldn’t touch it again.

“What’s wrong with it this time?” Asked Matt as he took the cup from her, taking a drink himself.

“It’s infected,” She stated, wiping her tongue off on her sleeve.

Lance laughed, “Pidgeon, I just got that fresh from the sink. It can’t be infected.”

“It tastes fine,” Matt announced to Lance like he was tattling on Katie.

“Does not!” Katie grumbled.

“Okay, well give it to Blue. She’s probably thirsty with how much she peed in the kitchen,” Lance told her.

Blue would do this thing where she would lap up the water in a cup and it was adorable. She’d been doing it since she was a puppy, when Keith and Lance surprised Matt with her on Matt’s last birthday. The kids loved it when Blue would do it, too, and would laugh and giggle each time Blue stuck her tongue in the cup.

But this time, when Katie held the cup out to Blue, she wouldn’t drink. Instead, a low growl emanated from the dog, startling Katie, Matt and, if he was honest, Lance too. Lance stood up straight and Katie dropped the cup, water spilling on the ground towards Blue. The moment it touched her paw, the dog leapt to her feet, and Katie stood up too.

“Don’t run, Katie,” Lance warned.

“Stop it Blue!” Matt scolded, still crouched next to Katie, but Blue just growled louder.

Lance was tensed and ready to grab the dog by her collar, but he was afraid of being bit himself. Blue started mean-barking and growling. Lance could’ve sworn he saw foam at the corner of her mouth. The thought of rabies flashed through his head and he gripped the sharp grill fork in his hand as the dog prepared to lunge at a very scared 5-year-old Katie.

~~~~~

Shiro thumbed the husk in his hand as he tried to mentally calculate the loss of income this would mean for his family. Coran’s footsteps crunched every few seconds as he walked along and, finding nothing worth investigating, finally settled in a crouch at Shiro’s right side.

“I don’t know what to tell you Father. I haven’t seen anything like this,” Coran muttered, confused. Shiro tried not to cringe at the sentence.

“What do you mean?” Shiro asked.

“Well, I mean look at the stalks. They’re laid down all smooth like. Not broken. Do you know of a machine that could do that?”

“Not my tractor- or any tractor, really. But it can’t be done by hand, if that’s what you’re suggesting. It’s too perfect. I can barely draw a perfect circle by hand yet these guys smoothed one out in my field overnight?” Shiro questioned. 

Coran scratched his head, “I don’t know Father,” Then paused a second before shaking his head as if to clear it, “Ugh, these past few weeks have been stressful. So much has been happening it’s hard to think straight.”

Shiro looked to the ginger man fiddling with his badge beside him, “What do you mean?”

Coran looked at him sideways for a moment before speaking, “I’m not really supposed to talk about all of everything but… I mean it’s all public record anyway so I might as well.” People always felt comfortable talking to Shiro- telling them their secrets or other people’s secrets. He just chalked it up to his former profession. He didn’t mind, especially when it worked on law enforcement. When he was younger, it helped him get out of speeding tickets. Now it helped him get information from the county sheriff. 

Coran took a breath, twirling his mustache to gather his thoughts, “I don’t know, it’s all just a lot of things. Some people have reported seeing strangers hanging around at night. But mostly it’s just been animals acting out so Animal Control gets called. We still have to write up reports so deputies go out too- plus we’re next door to each other in town so it’s easier to ride together... Anyway, the stories are odd…”

“Like how?” Shiro prodded.

“These animals are going mad, almost!” Coran exclaimed, his voice bouncing off of the crops around them, “Attacking their owners without provocation- peeing on themselves. Kolivan down at the station personally thinks it may be some disease but I think it’s something else. How they’re acting… it’s almost like they smell a predator around… What do you suppose, Father?”

Shiro nodded along to Coran’s rambling but stopped mid nod. It really was odd. 

Blue had peed on herself this morning and Red had been acting a bit aggressive lately. But… that was just coincidence right? Blue had only recently been house-trained so…

Still, Shiro got a bad feeling almost immediately, despite his trying to calm himself. He stood up slowly, listening.

“Coran, please stop calling me Father,” Shiro said, quietly.

“What’s wrong?” Coran asked, picking up on the sudden tense energy coming from Shiro.

“I don’t hear my children.”

~~~~~

Shiro and Coran busted through the corn line at the edge of the backyard, looking left and right to orient their position for a second, before spotting the swing set off to the left and running towards the scene. 

It wasn’t pleasant.

Matt and Katie, partially obscured by the swing set next to them, held each other at the top of the slide in the clubhouse, white as sheets, Matt silently crying. Lance, with a pained look on his face, was sitting on the ground with Blue, gently stroking the fur on her head. And Blue… she had the grill fork buried up to the hilt into her ribs, fresh blood matting her fur, laying still, fur ruffling from the light breeze that cooled the day.

Coran went to the children while Shiro went to Lance.

“What happened?” He asked Lance, who looked so young right now as he cradled the dog’s head.

“Blue lunged at Katie. I think she may have had rabies? I don’t know. She was just so violent, I… I had to do something,” Lance said, voice slightly breaking. Blue was technically Matt’s dog, but Lance had taken care of her quite a lot, too. Shiro could understand how much this hurt Lance in particular.

“Is anyone hurt?” Coran asked, not directed at anyone specifically, as he helped Matt down from the clubhouse. 

“No,” Lance said.

Katie shied away from Coran and Shiro when they tried to get her down. So Lance stood up, patting Blue for the last time, and went to Katie. 

“Come on, Pidge,” He picked her up under her armpits and she clung to him tightly as he brought her down from her perch. Shiro looked after them with an envy that made him feel horrible. Katie hardly seemed to like Shiro anymore.

Keith, at that moment, walked out of the garage apartment and towards the house with a bounce in his step until he saw the scene that laid before him. He looked at Shiro, confused, as he walked up.

Lance passed him while making his way towards the backdoor, not making eye contact, holding a shaking Katie. Matt ran after them, apparently not wanting to be outside any longer than he had to, which was strange for Matt.

“Blue is sick,” Katie said quietly into Lance’s shoulder, still looking at the dog laying on the ground.

“What happened?” Keith asked Shiro. The screen door slapped in the background as Lance and the kids went into the kitchen.

“Where were you?” Shiro asked his younger brother, with an edge to his voice that he didn’t mean to put in.

“I was just… setting up the paint. What-“ Keith stopped short, eyes landing on Blue. Or, more specifically, the long two-pronged fork that Coran was carefully pulling out of her bloodied ribs. 

“I’ll explain later. Or Lance will- I don’t know,” Shiro said, walking towards the kitchen himseld to check on the kids, “Just… take Red and tie him up at the garage,” He reached the screen door and spared a look back at Blue and the fork Coran was now inspecting in his hand, “And make sure the rope is really _tight_ ," He finished and went inside.

Keith nodded to himself and went off to find Red.

Coran shook a plastic bag out of a pocket on his utility belt and put the bloodied fork inside. He reached towards his radio to call in a possible rabies case. He would make sure that if rabies really was going around, then everyone at the station and the Animal Control office next door were vigilant.

The sheriff caught a horrible, sharp smell and, knowing it couldn’t be coming from the dog yet, turned to look around.

Smoke rose up from behind him where the chicken burned on the grill.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay but tell me that burned chicken doesn't just _stink_. Sorry about the puppy dog. There isn't going to be anymore explicit animal violence in the future chapters.  
>  I'm following closely to the plot of the movie here in the beginning by way of plot points and dialogue, but I will change it up in future chapters. I guess the problem with being such a huge fan of the movie is that I think the dialogue is near perfect because I pretty much have it memorized? I change it up so it isn't exactly the same but if I really like what is in the movie I'll keep in the fic... which is most of the movie. But since I'm adding in extra characters and using their Voltron characteristics, I will change or add dialogue and scenes as the writing process continues.  
> Once again, let me know what y'all think! It's greatly appreciated!  
> God, I'm so excited to share this with y'all!


	3. The Shadow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ta-da! Two updates in the same day! I. Am. On. Fire! I'm pretty sure this is what running a marathon feels like but without the pain.  
> Guys, I'm gonna be real with y'all, the beginning of this chapter is mainly Klance-fueled self-indulgence. It's beautiful. It's fluffy. Like honestly, I love it. The rest of the chapter got my heart racing, though, so get ready. Some stuff 'bout to happen!  
> Oh, and there's a song in here at the beginning. If you want to know, the name is 'Hasta Que Se Seque el Malecón' by Jacob Forever and its Fantastic™.  
> This chapter is also the start of the chapters starting to get longer. I'm gonna try to keep the lengths of the chapters regulated but it honestly just depends.  
> Enjoy the update!

Lance and Keith sat on the couch in the living room, the house dark, the only light coming from the moonlight outside and the flicker of the television in front of him. Keith had his arm on the back of the couch and Lance was leaning into his side, headphones in and not paying attention to the television. 

Keith knew he was upset about how the day had gone and about Blue. Because, number one, all of the above sucked and it upset all of them, and number two, Lance never sulked like this. If he listened to music, it would be out loud while I was doing something. He only whipped out his headphones and clammed up if he was really, really, _really_ upset.

Keith muted Steven Colbert, the man he was interviewing silently moving his lips now. Keith turned his head towards his boyfriend who was just looking off into space, not noticing the lack of volume coming from the television. He looked so sad that Keith couldn’t take it anymore. He tugged an earphone out of Lance’s ear.

Lance turned to him, “Dude, what the heck?” He reached for the white cord.

“Talk to me, I’m bored,” Keith lied, trying to engage Lance in something other than moping.

His boyfriend harrumphed and crossed his arms, noticing the television, “Well, it’s _your_ fault that you muted the TV.”

“I muted it because I’m _bored_ ,” Keith lied again. Wow, he was bad at this. Lance made comforting people seem easy, how would Keith even start?

Lance sighed, “Okay, what do you want to do? There are cards in the TV cabinet,” he suggested.

Keith grimaced, “Cards? Really?”

His boyfriend made an ‘i-don’t-know’ sound in his throat, taking his phone off of the couch next to him, opening up Pandora.

“What are you even listening to?” Keith asked.

“Nothing,” Lance said, trying to hide his smirk.

Keith would just have to turn the tables. Take on a Lance persona. Which meant leaning over Lance, reaching for the phone, whining, “Let me seeeeeeeeee.”

Lance laughed, holding the phone further away, “No! You don’t like my music!”

“I never said that,” Keith groaned, reaching his hand out further, now half squishing Lance underneath him. At least Lance was laughing now, rubbing off on Keith as he started giggling too.

“Ge’off!” Lance laughed, trying to stay quiet as the kids and Shiro were trying to sleep upstairs. “You’re heavy!”

“I wanna listen!” Keith said, now totally pinning Lance to the couch, sideways, though, so it was uncomfortable, awkward and added to the laughing. One of Lance’s bony elbows dug into Keith’s stomach as his arm was trapped between them while the other arm held the phone off the side of the couch, away from the imposter.

“It’s in Spanish!”

“I know Spanish!”

“It’s Cuban Spanish!”

“You speak Cuban Spanish so the only Spanish I know is Cuban Spanish!”

“It’s just a stupid song!”

“Then let me see!”

In their struggle and laughter, Lance had begun to roll off the couch. So, right when Keith secured a hand around Lance’s phone, their balance tipped, both boy’s eyes going wide as they toppled onto the floor. After the jarring impact ending up with them on the carpet, legs still half on the couch, half in the air, they looked at each other, and broke out in laughter. They tried to shush each other, remembering the sleeping family members upstairs, but only succeeded in increasing the hysterics in their laughter.

After they calmed down a bit, Lance ceded, “Okay, okay. I need to restart the song but okay.”

Keith grinned. Lance was smiling and, yeah, he may still be sad, but at least his mind was on other things for now. He picked his weight off of the ground, untangling their limbs as Lance restarted the song and unplugged the headphones. Keith helped him up as the song started playing.

Tropical beats kicked off the song before the singer began;

_Si preguntaste, si averiguaste, por mi  
ahora estoy major que nunca_

Lance followed not far behind, pulling Keith away from the coffee table and the couch to the open living room floor, asking him, “Want to dance?” Not even waiting for an answer before starting to sing along.

_Voy a sguir cantando, prucceindo, veindo la vida a color_

Keith stumbled along as Lance twirled them around, smiling and singing. They both laughed when Lance broke off and started _actually_ dancing and Keith did a funny half-assed jig. The beat was fun and catchy, making them Keith feel unusually playful. So when Lance sang the lyric, _Ahora no me puede dar por eso y eso y eso. Ahora no me puede dar por eso_ , Keith replied with a snarky and suggestive “Oh I can’t, can I?”

That made Lance pause in the middle of a whip, looking at him like a deer in the headlights for a moment because Keith _rarely_ flirted outwardly. He recovered quickly, though, smiling and grabbing Keith by the arm and twirling him around. Keith’s foot caught on the carpet, causing them to fall in a heap again, and prompting more giggles.

The song cycled out and they kept dancing and goofing off. And they did so during the next song and the next and the one after that, until they both tuckered out, and found themselves leaning into each other, slow dancing to a song that definitely wasn’t a slow-dance song.

When Keith was pretty sure that Lance was going to fall asleep on his shoulder standing up, he pushed him off to arm’s length, ignoring Lance’s protesting whine.

“Dude, I think you need to go to sleep.”

Lance gave him a playful evil eye, “You were just slow dancing with me, your boyfriend, and you call me ‘dude’?”

“ _Babe,_ you need to go to sleep?” Keith tried again.

Lance smiled, contented, “That’s better,” before yawning and stretching, going to the entryway to slip on his shoes.

Keith went to turn the music off on Lance’s phone, handing it to him when Lance walked through, heading to the backdoor.

“You coming to bed, too?”

Keith shook his head, “Not yet.”

Lance nodded. He knew that if Keith wasn’t completely exhausted when he laid down, then he would toss and turn all night. So he kissed his boyfriend good night before moving to the backdoor.

The moonlight shined through the windows in the dining room and kitchen that led out to the back porch, making the contrasting dark kitchen just a bit spooky looking. It didn’t help that Lance could’ve sworn that he saw something move across the light of some of the windows and heard accompanying scratching noises, like an animal was walking across the porch. A tall animal that could cast a shadow on the windows, though?

He came up short, at that, and stopped before he crossed into the kitchen. Lance watched the windows for more movement and strained his ears for a moment to listen for anything outside. For the briefest of seconds, he thought he heard what sounded like water drops or something clicking. But that was cut short by Keith turning the volume back up on the living room TV, which wasn’t loud but drowned out whatever noise Lance heard.

He turned around, considering dragging Keith out to the garage apartment with him so he didn’t have to go alone. But Lance thought better of it when he saw Keith watching the TV, eyes getting a bit more tired with each second. If he brought Keith outside now, he wouldn’t get any sleep. It wasn’t Keith’s problem that Lance was still afraid of ghosts and the dark.

So the Cuban boy turned back around, turning on his phone flashlight, and walked to the door, opening it slowly.

The night air was warm outside but cooler than inside the house. The yard was cast in blue moonlight, making the details of the swing set, the grill, the picnic table and the garage beyond stand out in the night. Lance looked to the right and left, down each side of the wrap around porch, cast in shadow. Nothing but patio furniture and a tall shadow on the wall that Lance decided was cast by one of the porch columns before he let his imagination run away.

He looked over his shoulder to where Keith was sitting in the living room and, just to settle his nerves, called “Love you!” into the house.

Keith looked at him and smiled a content smile that only a few people, including Lance, were allowed to see, and called back, “Love you too! I’ll be out there in an hour or so!”

That put Lance at ease enough for him to walk outside and shut the door behind him, heading towards their bed in the motor-oil scented room above where Shiro kept the tractor.

He didn’t catch the water-drop-like clicking that sounded from the tall shadow on the porch as he made his way up the steps on the side of the garage.

~~~~~

The room was still and silent as Shiro tossed and turned in bed. Even though the windows were open, the September heat made the sheets too sticky. The ceiling fan clicked annoyingly so Shiro kept it off most nights. Tonight, like last night, he considered making an exception. He turned too sharply on his right, squishing the end of his arm at a weird angle, sending a phantom pain up to his shoulder that made him grimace. 

Insects and frogs sounded outside and he tried to allow the crickets and croaking lull him to sleep, but it kept evading him.

It's not like Shiro wasn’t tired, because he was. It had been a long day and he had helped Keith bury blue earlier. He couldn’t work a shovel too well yet but he was strong enough to lift the bag that held Blue and set her down in the 5 foot deep hole. The kids had a sweet funeral for Blue. Shiro’s heart twinged. Those kids had experienced too much death too early in their life.

So yeah, Shiro was tired, but something was keeping him awake. He was on edge. Every sense of his was on high alert. He wanted to pretend that the talk about aliens and rabies and whatnot over the past day hadn’t worried him- the rabies more so than the aliens- but the truth was that it was easy for Shiro to get nervous nowadays.

Getting too uncomfortable laying on his right side, he flipped to his left side. Eyes closed, trying to ignore his bad feeling. He hoped facing the door would cool him off- that he could catch a draft coming from the dark hallway.

The sounds outside stopped abruptly. There was a strange, eerie silence. The air all of a sudden hung heavy.

That is, until something sounded next to his ear. Like someone had breathed right in front of his face.

He jumped, eyes flying open. A small figure stood mere inches from his face.

“There’s a monster outside my room can I have a glass of water?” Katie spoke into the moonlit darkness of the bedroom.

Shiro paused for a moment, heart still hammering inside his chest. He ignored Katie’s overactive imagination as his mind seemed to also be playing tricks on him that night.

“Don’t you have one next to your bed?” He asked his daughter. For a moment, he allowed himself to selfishly be happy that she came to him to ask. She had rarely talked to him over the past year.

“Tastes old,” She said, making a yucked-out face he was barely able to make out.

Shiro groaned as he got up, thankful for something to do other than roll around in bed, sweating.

He fetched the glass from Katie’s bedside table in the room at the other end of the hall. Katie followed closely behind him as he went to the bathroom, emptied the contents into the sink, and refilled it with cold, fresh water.

He was surprised that Katie took three whole gulps before eventually gagging at the taste. 

They went back into Matt and Katie’s shared room, a situation that was arranged a year ago when Matt didn’t want to sleep alone anymore. Katie went to her bed with her cup that Shiro knew she wouldn’t drink out of anymore and Shiro went to his son’s bed, where Matt had half fallen off the side in his sleep. He picked the boy up and tucked him back in before going to sit next to Katie on her bed.

She just looked up at him with bright eyes. Not necessarily ‘bright’ bright because the room was quite dark. But it seemed that his daughter was able to light up even the darkest of rooms if she gave the right look. 

Katie stared at him a beat longer than usual, so Shiro asked her, “What are you thinking about?”

She stared at him a second longer before asking, “Why do you talk to Mama when you’re alone?”

Shiro’s heart almost stopped. He thought he had been alone when he did that a couple of days ago. It was a habit- a coping mechanism, he knew. He gulped down the urge to tear up- which was easy after a year’s worth of practice- and thought of an answer.

“I guess… it makes me feel better,” He said, his voice a bit too thick for his liking.

Katie paused, looking down at her lap as she swung her legs back and forth, toes barely reaching the floor to catch on the carpet.

“Does she ever answer you?” She asked innocently.

Shiro’s heart ached as he whispered, “No.”

She looked back up at him. She didn’t have any tears in her eyes. It made sense. She was too young to know what she lost but she understood she was missing something big.

“She never answers me neither,” Katie said simply.

Shiro only nodded, understanding.

Katie stretched and yawned, rubbing at her eyes with the heel of her hand. So Shiro laid her back against her pillows and tucked the covers up under her chin. He kissed her forehead, going to leave.

“Dada, it’s hot. Can I have the window open?” She asked.

Shiro hummed a sure, and moved to the window. He unlocked it, gripping the bottom to raise it. But as he looked outside, he froze. 

A tall, shadowy silhouette stood on the roof of the garage apartment.

Shiro jumped back, like the window had shocked him. Then, gathering some sense, shut it and locked it for good measure. Katie watched him curiously, to whom he just smiled a forced smile.

“I think the window should stay closed tonight. Too many bugs,” He said, knowing how much she hated insects. Katie nodded furiously in agreement before turning over on her side.

Shiro rushed to his room, throwing on the clothes he wore the day before, once again too rushed to deal with the frustrating process of putting on his prosthetic. He slipped on his boots and, before rushing downstairs, shut his bedroom windows too. 

~~~~~

A light flickered at the base of the stairs, coming from the living room, letting him know either Lance or Keith hadn’t gone to the apartment yet. As Shiro cleared the last step and turned he saw that it was Keith, who had dozed off on the couch while watching Comedy Central.

Shiro moved to Keith’s side and shook him awake. Keith sleepily opened his eyes, looking at the TV, before shaking his head and looking at Shiro. 

“Rolo and Nyma are back,” Shiro whispered, looking out the living room window to his left and the back door window to his right.

Keith blinked hard, clearing the rest of the sleep out of his system as he stood up quickly. 

“What?” He asked Shiro.

“I’m pretty sure I saw one of them outside the kid’s window on the apartment roof,” Shiro explained.

A look of worry passed over Keith’s face but was quickly replaced with anger. He stormed off towards the front door, where his shoes sat in the entryway. Shiro followed his brother, standing next to him as Keith hopped in place trying to fit his foot in his shoe without untying it.

“It’s time for an ass-whooping,” Keith whispered aggressively as he struggled with his shoe.

“Now Keith, don’t get aggressive,” Shiro tried to calm him down.

“Rolo and Nyma egged the house two months ago. Lance is sleeping alone out there right now with those guys on our _roof_ and you expect me to _not get aggressive?"_

“Look, all I’m saying is that Ryner is my friend. This is her son we’re talking about,” Shiro reasoned.

“We’ll be doing her a favor,” Keith finally got both shoes on and opened the front door. The porch and driveway beyond were dark. No insects sounded outside.

“We’re not going to hurt them. Just scare them,” Keith whispered, looking out of the door into the yard. Shiro didn’t seem to quite get it. 

“We both go outside and run around the house in opposite directions,” Keith explained, gesturing with his hands, “We act crazy- insane with anger! Make them crap their pants. Force them around until we meet up on the other side. Trap them between the two of us,” he completed a circle with his fingers and then clasped his hands together.

Shiro paused for a second. 

“Explain act crazy.”

“Y’know, curse and stuff,” Keith whispered.

“I don’t curse.”

“You don’t mean it. It’s just for show.”

“It’s not natural when I curse!”

“Just make noises then,” Keith groaned.

Shiro paused a beat longer. Contemplating. 

“Explain make noises.”

“Are you gonna do this or what?” Keith asked, frustrated.

“No!” Shiro whisper-shouted.

“So, what? You want them to steal something in the house next time?” Keith whisper-shouted back.

The front motion detector light flashed on outside, bringing the two’s attention back to the situation. When they looked back to each other, a silent agreement passed between them. _Okay, we’re doing this._

“On the count of three,” Keith whispered, slowly pushing the screen door open so that it didn’t creak. 

“One.

Two.

Three!”

Both men bolted out of the house, flying off the porch, the screen door smacking its frame behind them. Shiro ran to the left while Keith cut to the right.

“Ah! I’m insane with anger!” Shiro yelled loudly but with no heart, waving his arm above his head while running at a fast jog.

Keith, however, sprinted along, “We’re gonna beat your ass, bitch!” He screamed with fury.

Shiro put his arm down. Then he heard a sound ahead of him, so he yelled again, “I’m losing my mind!”

Keith turned one of the side corners of the house, slowing and turning around to make sure no one was behind him. One of the trashcans at the back of the house clattered, knocked over. Keith’s attention turned back to his path. The motion detector light in the back flipped on, then, and a shadow moved across the yard. He picked his sprint back up, “We’re gonna tear your head off!” He yelled.

Shiro, on the other side of the house, saw the same shadow. Slightly winded, he called out, “It’s time for an ass-whooping!”

Both brothers came together at the back of the house and skidded to a halt, looking around for the people they were supposedly chasing.

Pausing to take a breath, Shiro told Keith, “I cursed.”

“I heard,” Keith said back, "Although the goal was intimidation not comedy," He teased, prompting a winded laugh from the older man.

There was no sign of Rolo or Nyma, though. Keith even glanced to check under the porch but… nothing.

But then something sounded above them. Someone’s feet scrambling for purchase on the roof shillings ten feet above their heads. Their heads snapped up immediately.

“What the…” Keith trailed off, walking backwards, not taking his gaze off of the roof, trying to get a better look. He barely saw movement but heard the footsteps above them. He walked back forwards to Shiro, who was struggling for a look, too. Neither dared to take their view off the roof.

“This isn’t Rolo or Nyma, is it?” He whispered to Shiro.

The older man barely had time to shrug before there was movement again. They weren’t able to track it but the squeak of the swing chain sounded behind them. They whipped around, barely catching a glimpse of the corn stalks parting for someone to run through them, the swing flying back and forth, uncaring to the situation surrounding it.

A noise sounded from the garage apartment door that made Keith jump and Shiro take a step back.

“What in the world is going on?! It’s midnight, you heathens!” Lance called from the top of the stairs.

Shiro noticed the worried look that flashed over Keith’s face again. Then Keith yelled, “Lance, come get in the house, now!”

Lance looked taken aback, but just called, “Yeah, okay!” Then made to go back inside the apartment.

“No, Lance, the house! The actual house!” Keith yelled again, pointing at the farmhouse.

“I know! I’m just grabbing my phone, you absolute lamppost!” Lance called back before disappearing inside and reappearing on the steps a few seconds later, the flashlight on his phone lighting the way. 

Keith and Shiro looked at each other, confusion and maybe a tiny trace of fear passing between them. Whoever was on the roof had jumped clean over their heads.

As soon as all three men got back inside, Shiro picked up the landline, and called Coran’s office.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chase-around-the-house scene is one of my favorites in the movie so bada bing, bada boom, it had to go in here.  
> Also I told y'all there would be some Klance fluff!  
> And, honestly, reading back over the chapter now that I'm finished with it, I can say I'm quite proud of it.  
> Off to write Chapter 4!

**Author's Note:**

> And so it starts. I procrastinated posting this because I was scared of people stealing my idea because I've been plagiarized before on here. But I just said "Screw them, they shouldn't make you scared to write." So here we are! I will try to update at least weekly if not more often. Chapter 2 is going to be up tomorrow though! So look out for it.  
> Let me know what y'all think so far! Comments are like cocaine to me so please fuel my addiction!!  
> Kudos are also appreciated!!


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